London, 11 March 2014 – The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the UK domain name registry Nominet and Public Interest Registry, operators of the .ORG domain will jointly host the first Commonwealth Domain Name System forum in London on 19 – 20 June 2014.

Named Commonwealth DNS Forum 2014, the event is designed to help the stakeholders from across the Commonwealth to examine:

the economic potential of the domain name industry

governance policy options for the cyberspace

issues surrounding local content generation and utilisation

opportunities for investment and innovation

the social impact of generic top level domains

opportunities for and impact upon civil society, and

the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships to develop public policy.

“This event will contribute to ICANN’s global programme to diversify its Community through a multi-stakeholder approach. The Commonwealth represents a cross section of the global ICT community contributing a great deal to the public policy debate. We hope this event will be able to marshal that thinking for the greater good of the DNS community” said Nigel Hickson, ICANN’s Vice-President, Stakeholder Engagement, Europe.

Professor Tim Unwin, the Secretary-General of the CTO said: “The CTO is delighted to be a partner of this event which, for the first time, will bring an important Commonwealth perspective to a consultation on the domain name system. It will be another step in the CTO’s efforts to mobilise the strengths of the Commonwealth to ensure Cyberspace delivers the socio-economic benefits it is capable of.”

Nominet’s Chief Executive Officer, Lesley Cowley OBE, added: “We’re very pleased to be supporting this important event. There is a lot of interesting activity taking place across the Commonwealth which is helping to unlock the full potential of the Internet. This includes improving cybersecurity, increasing access, and work with local communities and businesses, as well as developments in the DNS market. We hope that the Commonwealth DNS Forum will allow us to share this wealth of practical experience, helping us all to learn from each other.”

“For more than a decade, Public Interest Registry has served as an advocate for collaboration, safety and security on the Internet. As the long-standing operator of the .ORG domain and operator of the soon-to-be-launched .NGO and .ONG domains for the global non-governmental organisation community, we have unique insight into the issues surrounding the domain industry. We look forward to bringing together stakeholders from across the Commonwealth at this event to help them prepare for imminent changes to the Internet landscape and to foster discussion around the power of the domain name system,” said Brian Cute, Chief Executive Officer of Public Interest Registry.

The event will be opened by Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary-General, and will be attended by over 150 participants from across the Commonwealth with a speaker faculty drawn from public sector, industry and civil society.

About the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation
The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) is an international organisation based in London and established through a Headquarters Agreement with the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is the oldest and largest Commonwealth organisation engaged in multilateral collaboration in the field of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The CTO uses its experience and expertise to support its members in integrating ICTs to deliver effective development interventions that enrich, empower, and emancipate people within the Commonwealth and beyond. For more infomration please visit www.cto.int

About The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) coordinates the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions, which are key technical services critical to the continued operations of the Internet’s underlying address book, the Domain Name System (DNS). The IANA functions include: (1) the coordination of the assignment of technical protocol parameters including the management of the address and routing parameter area (ARPA) top-level domain; (2) the administration of certain responsibilities associated with Internet DNS root zone management such as generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domains; (3) the allocation of Internet numbering resources; and (4) other services. ICANN performs the IANA functions under a U.S. Government contract. For more information please visit www.icann.org

About Nominet
Domain names are one of the key building blocks of the internet – an essential component of every email address and website. Millions of businesses and consumers now depend on Nominet’s services, which underpin a critical part of the UK Internet economy.

Nominet is a private, not-for-profit business, responsible for the smooth and secure running of the .uk internet infrastructure. We have over 2,800 members and are committed to acting in the public interest.

With the proceeds of a successful registry business, Nominet set up and support the Nominet Trust, an independent charitable foundation focussed on increasing access, safety and education on internet issues.

About Public Interest Registry
Public Interest Registry is a non-profit corporation that operates the .ORG top-level domain – the world’s third largest “generic” top-level domain with more than 10 million domain names registered worldwide. As an advocate for collaboration, safety and security on the Internet, Public Interest Registry’s mission is to empower the global non-commercial community to use the Internet more effectively, and to take a leadership position among Internet stakeholders on policy and other issues relating to the domain naming system. Public Interest Registry was founded by the Internet Society (http://www.internetsociety.org) in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia, USA.

More Information

For more information please contact:Marcel Belingue, Head of Membership & Communications